Effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) On Entertainment & Tourism Industry

[Mad Dog]

Princess Cruise Lines has cancelled tours on it's fleet of 18 ships through May 5th.

 

[Nick]

Disney still runs Anaheim and they have their own city in Florida.

They’re going to keep WDW and DL and Paris open as long as they’re making money. Even with bad optics, they won’t care until the bad optics lead to unprofitable crowd levels.

Hong Kong was an easy decision because it wasn’t making money anyway. Shanghai, on the other hand, opened partially a few days ago; the exact day that the president was touring Wuhan. That, absolutely, was likely a push from 51% owner China for optics reasons.

Now, France or California could pass legislation to shut those respective parks down. Florida likely won’t. I’d guess it would need to be a national policy to get WDW to shutter it’s doors (again, unless the lack of people made being open unprofitable).

Universal could force Disney's hand. If they close, it shows that they're taking it seriously and willing to sacrifice profits. I doubt Disney wants to look like the bad guy that's just trying to make an extra buck during a national health crisis.

 

[Brian G.]

I think it’s fair to say the administration has been more reactive than proactive. I don’t know what the travel ban will impact just yet, but there should be, and have been, a lot more done, especially last month.

BUT this is the Tourism impact discussion so we should probably let it get back to that.

 

[GAcoaster]

All of the theme park operators' stocks are getting hit HARD. This could be big trouble for Six Flags, Cedar Fair, and SeaWorld whose only business is theme parks.

 

[Brian G.]

Universal could force Disney's hand. If they close, it shows that they're taking it seriously and willing to sacrifice profits. I doubt Disney wants to look like the bad guy that's just trying to make an extra buck during a national health crisis.

I think once schools close, I’d expect the parks to make their decision soon after.

 

[ssirin88]

How much notice do you think the parks would give regarding closure? A week ahead?

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Disney still runs Anaheim and they have their own city in Florida.

They’re going to keep WDW and DL and Paris open as long as they’re making money. Even with bad optics, they won’t care until the bad optics lead to unprofitable crowd levels.

Hong Kong was an easy decision because it wasn’t making money anyway. Shanghai, on the other hand, opened partially a few days ago; the exact day that the president was touring Wuhan. That, absolutely, was likely a push from 51% owner China for optics reasons.

Now, France or California could pass legislation to shut those respective parks down. Florida likely won’t. I’d guess it would need to be a national policy to get WDW to shutter it’s doors (again, unless the lack of people made being open unprofitable).


Then don’t.

There is a lot of blame to go around and it’s an impossible situation to be in. But snap judgements during a crisis aren’t beneficial. Wait a few years, look back, and then see if whatever move whoever made was good or not. It’s literally impossible to do in the moment. One perfect example that happened in our last crisis- The Patriot Act: every congressman but one voted yes. At the time everyone thought it was great. History shows us differently. I’ll always admire Russ Feingold for this very reason.

Can we give it one day prior to making decrees of success or failure? Just one? Politics has absolutely no place on this forum. There are hundreds of forums and discussion boards to go sound off. To have one day on a theme park forum and not read the name “Trump” would be nice.

Well we're in a thread about the coronavirus, a Global Pandemic and he's the President. Maybe stay away from discussing the topic then. I can blame him for his lack of response to this, as just last week he flat out lied to the country saying it's nearly contained and yet here we are. Thats not a snap judgment, its a flat out lie from someone who has no idea what they're doing in a major crisis like this. Im not even discussing politics Im just discussing his response to it, but put the disclaimer so people like you wouldn't respond "Bah everyone criticizes trump", well, as in any President, he IS the head of the country and needs to deal with this properly and he is not. There is not enough testing being done and we are behind the 8 ball on this. The NBA has suspended their entire season, almost every major conference in the US has been, or will be cancelled. The major theme parks will most likely be closing soon. Colleges are telling students to stay home and are doing the rest of their semesters online, this is serious and not normal and he said last night this is as bad as the flu. Its clearly worse than the flu right now so my entire point was, Im concerned. We don't seem to have any leadership on the matter and its concerning for all of us. Nothing really political about that, he has the job and he needs to do the job correctly. He is not.

 

[Andysol]

Universal could force Disney's hand. If they close, it shows that they're taking it seriously and willing to sacrifice profits. I doubt Disney wants to look like the bad guy that's just trying to make an extra buck during a national health crisis.

You know... we didn’t even discuss sea world.

Currently, Argentina is requiring a mandatory 14 day quarantine for those who visited the US. Brazil is likely to follow suit but has not yet. But knowing their government I’m shocked it hasn’t happened already.

This could be the death nail for Sea world

 

[GAcoaster]

How much notice do you think the parks would give regarding closure? A week ahead?

If it's their decision, probably a few days. If it's an order from the local/state/federal government, no notice at all.

 

[Andysol]

Well we're in a thread about the coronavirus, a Global Pandemic and he's the President. Maybe stay away from discussing the topic then. I can blame him for his lack of response to this, as just last week he flat out lied to the country saying it's nearly contained and yet here we are. Thats not a snap judgment, its a flat out lie from someone who has no idea what they're doing in a major crisis like this. Im not even discussing politics Im just discussing his response to it, but put the disclaimer so people like you wouldn't respond "Bah everyone criticizes trump", well, as in any President, he IS the head of the country and needs to deal with this properly and he is not. There is not enough testing being done and we are behind the 8 ball on this. The NBA has suspended their entire season, almost every major conference in the US has been, or will be cancelled. The major theme parks will most likely be closing soon. Colleges are telling students to stay home and are doing the rest of their semesters online, this is serious and not normal and he said last night this is as bad as the flu. Its clearly worse than the flu right now so my entire point was, Im concerned. We don't seem to have any leadership on the matter and its concerning for all of us. Nothing really political about that, he has the job and he needs to do the job correctly. He is not.

I could argue a ton of your points. And not to disprove or invalidate them, just to offer a different mindset.

But I’m not going to as it leads to absolutely nothing and the biggest part: Because this is a theme park forum.
If it doesn’t have to do with tourism or the general parks and could be divisive or counter argued, just hold your tongue or find another outlet. They exist by the hundreds (thousands). Find the right spot.

This thread is for discussion, not debate.

If the mods want to open the can of worms of a “corona political discussion” by all means. But this isn’t the place. Am I wrong here @Brian G. ?

 

[SeventyOne]

Can't speak to Anaheim, but as for WDW, Mouse loathe to close his parks, even when keeping them open results in obvious risk to CMs. Partly a money thing, of course. But also a large chunk of WDW's "whales"--and, to be honest, their underpaid employees--see the parks as an idealized, always happy safe space. National headlines about Disney closing hurt that image, possibly permanently. And in Florida, no one is going to take on Disney. Expect hotels and attractions to be shuttered but I don't see them closing.

Princess Cruise Lines has cancelled tours on it's fleet of 18 ships through May 5th.

But not Carnival yet, which is odd, given it's the same company. Probably speaks to demographics tho.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I could argue a ton of your points. And not to disprove or invalidate them, just to offer a different mindset.

But I’m not going to as it leads to absolutely nothing and the biggest part: Because this is a theme park forum.
If it doesn’t have to do with tourism or the general parks and could be divisive or counter argued, just hold your tongue or find another outlet. They exist by the hundreds (thousands). Find the right spot.

This thread is for discussion, not debate.

If the mods want to open the can of worms of a “corona political discussion” by all means. But this isn’t the place. Am I wrong here @Brian G. ?

Well, he closed down all fights to Europe which is part of the UK, he's included now in this tourism discussion. Im not even debating anything, just stating facts about what is happening right now, you seem like the one who wants to debate things not me my friend. Im just stating concerns and facts about what is being cancelled and what isn't.

 

[Nick]

But not Carnival yet, which is odd, given it's the same company. Probably speaks to demographics tho.

Yeah, Princess skews older and I mean WAY older than Carnival.

 

[Mad Dog]

Orlando, just about more than any other city/area in the country, is reliant on one industry, tourism. Close it, and the economic effects will be short term devastating. I'd guess the state/local government will hold out as long as they can concerning issuing closing orders. A shut down of two weeks wouldn't be catastrophic, but a couple of months would be.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Last warning not to make this overtly political. Yes we can’t avoid the political-ness of the situation but go to twitter for it. Please keep this about the tourism industry.

 

[BAC]

As someone who is getting ready to drive my family of 5 nearly 1,000 miles to visit Universal, I will be watching this thread closely for news/rumors.

 

[Brian G.]

SeaWorld is trying

Starting today, March 12, SeaWorld Orlando Parks are offering Florida Residents a staycation promotion! Florida Residents can save up to 60% on SeaWorld tickets as low as $49.99, Aquatica tickets as low as $34.99, and a SeaWorld/Aquatica 2 park ticket for only $59.99.

 

[Andysol]

SeaWorld is trying

Starting today, March 12, SeaWorld Orlando Parks are offering Florida Residents a staycation promotion! Florida Residents can save up to 60% on SeaWorld tickets as low as $49.99, Aquatica tickets as low as $34.99, and a SeaWorld/Aquatica 2 park ticket for only $59.99.

It’s literally a “what do we have to lose” situation.

 

[Nick]

SeaWorld is trying

Starting today, March 12, SeaWorld Orlando Parks are offering Florida Residents a staycation promotion! Florida Residents can save up to 60% on SeaWorld tickets as low as $49.99, Aquatica tickets as low as $34.99, and a SeaWorld/Aquatica 2 park ticket for only $59.99.

I was at Magic Kingdom last night and everything was less than 45 minute wait around 7:30 for a 10PM close. I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but i'm sure if MK is seeing what seems to be low crowds during a normally busy time of year then SeaWorld is getting hit pretty bad.

 

[ssirin88]

As someone who is getting ready to drive my family of 5 nearly 1,000 miles to visit Universal, I will be watching this thread closely for news/rumors.

I feel ya. Going to Universal this weekend as well, although not from that far of a distance.