Theme Parks & Shopping Districts Reopening General Thread

[Tbad556]

 

[Nick]

That’s some BS. And honestly $13 is low for performers to begin with. Ive made close to $15 hourly at the parks doing things that require little skill.

I get that SW is probably really penny pinching right now though, but this is a bad look.

 

[Clive]

That’s some BS. And honestly $13 is low for performers to begin with. Ive made close to $15 hourly at the parks doing things that require little skill.

I get that SW is probably really penny pinching right now though, but this is a bad look.

Horror Nights performers in CA had a base rate of $14.5 last year with guaranteed overtime... different cost of living, of course, but yeesh.

 

[Nick]

Ummmmm.....


Also, in bad news:

 

[Grabnar]

Ummmmm.....


Also, in bad news:

This is from a non-local guest perspective, but the FP+'s are sort of a de facto reservation system unless you're willing to pony up the insane extra cost for park hopper. In general for my trips we've been more willing to either spend all day in a park that we have the FP+ for or take a trip to the Springs/a resort for dinner or entertainment. This is definitely more of an issue for AP's, but even then once capacity limits ease up I think there won't be nearly the problems we're seeing now.

 

[Nick]

This is from a non-local guest perspective, but the FP+'s are sort of a de facto reservation system unless you're willing to pony up the insane extra cost for park hopper. In general for my trips we've been more willing to either spend all day in a park that we have the FP+ for or take a trip to the Springs/a resort for dinner or entertainment. This is definitely more of an issue for AP's, but even then once capacity limits ease up I think there won't be nearly the problems we're seeing now.

I can deal with FP+ as I actually don't mind the system and it's not mandatory. But if - even after COVID is passed us - the Park Pass is still in place, then that's something that (as a local), will really be of great annoyance.

I do get though that having the Park Pass in place, it sort of forces people to make plans. And now that it seems like they are over-booking, they are seeing higher attendance because the locals who just decided not to go are being cancelled out by the extra people they are adding to the daily reservations.

 

[TheGentTrent]

I can deal with FP+ as I actually don't mind the system and it's not mandatory. But if - even after COVID is passed us - the Park Pass is still in place, then that's something that (as a local), will really be of great annoyance.

I don't think that should really be a concern. It seems to me that D'Amaro is just acknowledging the very real possibility that we could still be dealing with COVID guidelines a year from now, so Disney will keep whatever policy is needed to keep people safe.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

There’s no way they keep the existing park reservation system in tact beyond what is necessary. Doing Flex pass APs in WDW? I can see that. Requiring day ticket holders to reserve a day? No way. No park hopping? No way.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

The only way I see reservation systems staying long term will be for staffing. The parks will have a pretty clear idea how they need to staff and pay their employees. I really think that is the main reason for this and the parks can they accomodate to what is necessary. As our tech evolves and it becomes "easier" to do this, I can see some version of this staying. If Comcast thinks it will take 4-5 years to recover, I'm sure Disney has similar estimates so such a system should hopefully allow them to operate cost effectively, or as much as they can for the near future.

 

[MrBlonde]

I don't hold my breath on Disney Parks tech getting much better unless they do a huge rework. (Situations like these do give an opportunity to be bold, however.)

The reservation system is also a hidden price hike for APs by reducing the number of days you have available as they're only allocating X% to that bucket. I understand the need to focus on more profitable customers, but selling something as access and then creating hoops and hidden quotas to prevent use of said license for access just feels shady.

Also from a customer viewpoint, they should integrate the ticket purchasing system with the reservation system. It makes no sense for someone to have to buy a ticket and specify the days (due to pricing) and then actually book using those days to go the park with non-expiration tickets gone the way of the dodo. Right now it's duct taped together given the circumstances, but longer term that should be ironed out.

 

[Speed]

Only on rides where they can have two empty seats between them, but... still.

I'm pretty late to this but they did try to force me to ride with a family of 3 on Kraken a couple of weeks ago and the staff member assigning rows didn't seem too happy when I refused to ride with them.

 

[Alicia]

I'm pretty late to this but they did try to force me to ride with a family of 3 on Kraken a couple of weeks ago and the staff member assigning rows didn't seem too happy when I refused to ride with them.

Absolutely absurd.

I’ve visited Disney and Universal, but not feeling comfortable enough to go to SeaWorld parks as of yet.

 

[Nick]

Absolutely absurd.

I’ve visited Disney and Universal, but not feeling comfortable enough to go to SeaWorld parks as of yet.

I still don’t 100% feel comfortable at Universal or Disney, never mind SeaWorld.

The frequency of my park visits are WAY down since the reopening. I’ve been to Disney 3 times and Universal once. I feel no need to go to either anytime soon now that I’ve been back.

 

[SeventyOne]

There’s no way they keep the existing park reservation system in tact beyond what is necessary. Doing Flex pass APs in WDW? I can see that. Requiring day ticket holders to reserve a day? No way. No park hopping? No way.

EPCOT does not survive without park hoping.

 

[Viator]

Not sure if to post it here, but it may help us lead on into the possibility of it--California is going to institute a blueprint for the counties, on economic recovery.



May want to keep an eye on this--especially if certain parks are looking to bounce back open for guests.

 

[HandsomePete]

I don't hold my breath on Disney Parks tech getting much better unless they do a huge rework. (Situations like these do give an opportunity to be bold, however.)

The reservation system is also a hidden price hike for APs by reducing the number of days you have available as they're only allocating X% to that bucket. I understand the need to focus on more profitable customers, but selling something as access and then creating hoops and hidden quotas to prevent use of said license for access just feels shady.

Also from a customer viewpoint, they should integrate the ticket purchasing system with the reservation system. It makes no sense for someone to have to buy a ticket and specify the days (due to pricing) and then actually book using those days to go the park with non-expiration tickets gone the way of the dodo. Right now it's duct taped together given the circumstances, but longer term that should be ironed out.

They’ve been working on a new ticketing system for at least two years and it isn’t close to being done. So the duct tape isn’t going anywhere for awhile.

I think theme parks are really unique in that the technology component can be influential on your experience but it isn’t central to the product they’re selling. Take a sporting event - same basic concept (pay money for a ticket to see/do things) but the ticketing piece is run by Ticketmaster, whose sole function as a company is to sell and redeem tickets. If Amazon’s tech didn’t work, it’d be prioritized because that’s central to the shopping experience but a theme park’s tech doesn’t work and it just gets pushed down the investment pecking order year after year after year.

I’ve visited Disney and Universal, but not feeling comfortable enough to go to SeaWorld parks as of yet.

Outside the initial PR hit of their opening day, SW hasn’t done bad. Having been to recent weekend days at both, I prefer SW over Universal for a weekend. Midweek there’s no difference as both are empty enough to not really make much of a difference.

 

[Viator]

Not sure if to post it here, but it may help us lead on into the possibility of it--California is going to institute a blueprint for the counties, on economic recovery.



May want to keep an eye on this--especially if certain parks are looking to bounce back open for guests.

To update on this, thanks to Theme Park insider for bringing it up, but Newsom has come out and stated as thus:

"Specific to... amusement park operators, we are working with them," the governor said. "It is a very dynamic conversation, and so we didn't include it in the update today. That is a separate conversation. It's an easier to one to have, frankly, with some of the larger ones. We're trying to accommodate for some of the other amusement activities in the state, and so you'll be getting that as soon as we work through that. One of my afternoon meetings is in this space, and we're actively looking to see where we land on that."

California in 'Dynamic' Conversation on Reopening Theme Parks

www.themeparkinsider.com

 

[Parkscope Joe]

EPCOT does not survive without park hoping.

Anecdotal evidence I’ve heard is they’ve been turning away dozens of guests a day at International Gateway who want to eat dinner after all the other parks closed. Half those restaurants will close otherwise.

 

[Nick]

Anecdotal evidence I’ve heard is they’ve been turning away dozens of guests a day at International Gateway who want to eat dinner after all the other parks closed. Half those restaurants will close otherwise.

I have to think this will be addressed. Simply changing the policy to allow park hopping to Epcot only after 4PM would solve the Table Service issue.

 

[SeventyOne]

Anecdotal evidence I’ve heard is they’ve been turning away dozens of guests a day at International Gateway who want to eat dinner after all the other parks closed. Half those restaurants will close otherwise.

I'm sure the fear internally--in addition to bad P.R.--is that once restrictions are dropped on EPCOT, it becomes the de facto AP/CM "hang-out" park. Hard to predict crowds, may be days it feels packed (see Universal on weekends). But even with a third of the competition closed, I've heard numbers from the restaurants that would be an instant closure in the real world. If they hope to keep any semblance of authenticity in WS, they need to find a way to address that ASAP.