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2020: General Discussion
Poisson
TS Member
Fireworks costs a bomb to run so I doubt it
Matt N
TS Member
Could we potentially see the park defer at least some of its 40th birthday celebrations to 2021, as it would seem like at least a number of the events won't be able to happen now?
It would certainly provide people with an incentive to return!
It would certainly provide people with an incentive to return!
bluesonichd
TS Member
The UK will have to live with some disruptive social measures for at least the rest of the year, the government's chief medical adviser has said.
Need drugs or vaccine to get out.
No chance of them this year.
Towers not gonna be open This year.
Need drugs or vaccine to get out.
No chance of them this year.
Towers not gonna be open This year.
imanautie
TS Member
Let's try to avoid speaking in absolutes as easy as it is, biological matters are never absolute.
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bluesonichd
TS Member
imanautie
TS Member
Matt N
TS Member
Note the word "some". If Towers is able to apply social distancing measures effectively (which they insisted they could pre-lockdown, and some Chinese parks have been able to do), then I don't see why they couldn't open whenever lockdown begins to be eased. We can't guarantee anything until we see how things play out over the next few weeks & months. Things have developed incredibly quickly; if you'd have told someone at the beginning of 2020 (probably even sooner than that) that we'd be locked down by April, they'd have laughed in your face. And that was only 3 months ago.
Also, it might be worth noting that the government could just be laying out the worst case scenario. When you're in this position, it's always better to tell people to prepare for the worst than hope for the best. Remember when the peak was originally not going to be until June/July and it eventually turned out to be April, for example? Or how people were originally saying that schools definitely wouldn't be opening until September, but there's now talk of them reopening in May/June?
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Not possible as it stands. Towers are limited to 3 firework events per year under the Noise Abatement Order that was issued following the legal tussle with local residents Mr & Mrs Roper. The noise limit of fireworks used is limited too.
Prior to this case concluding, Towers used to have 5 fireworks nights per year & some of the fireworks used were very loud / powerful. Believe me, some made the Nemesis station shake & the fireworks were being launched from in front of the Towers ruins & the prevailing wind generally took them away from the main lawns to explode over X-Sector / the back-area where Studios North are & Coaster Corner was.
I think we need to be realistic here, a lot will be down to government guide lines, and at the moment I don't think they have a clue how this is all going to pan out.
There was a business on the news today that said that they would be better off closed than half open as they would lose less money if they stayed closed as oppose to having full staff and catering for half the customers
I've already written this year off and possible the best part of next year a good month ago. This years plans might be on hold/postponed, but my life keeps going, I've plenty to do here and I've made new goals which will keep me busy right up until the next few years, even if I don't come out of lock down, my life continues and I still have a lot to look forward to.
Hopefully Alton will still be up and running by the time we come out of this crisis. We all just need to be patience and take one day at a time. What will be, will be, it's not worth spreading the virus and ending up dead, just because we can't wait a year or two for all this to blow over.
Matt N
TS Member
If the hospitality industry has to stay shut for the entirety of 2020, then I'd imagine that some form of greater government support will likely come. The last thing that the government wants is for an entire industry to go under in that way.
I'm sure that Alton will still be up and running; even if Merlin goes under (which I still think to be very, very unlikely at this point in time), there's a chance that a different company may end up taking the parks over.
My current prediction is that theme parks in the UK will operate in some capacity this year, even if we are all standing 2m apart, wearing face masks and there are no large events. I'm thinking that if things progress as they currently are and we follow the same sort of trend as what China did, parks could reopen with measures in place at some point during the summer. China locked down 3 months ago, and some of its parks are now back open with additional measures in place, so I wouldn't rule it out just yet.
If the last few months have proven anything, though, it's that you can never predict the future. Neither can the government, so I'd imagine that's why they're saying what they are. If they don't know, it always leaves them in a better position to prepare Britons for the worst than get them to hope for the best.
They won't get in, the main gates are locked
KolonelKlink
TS Member
Ah, the misplaced confidence of a teenage schoolboy, who says in the very same post:
You keep citing China as a model for parks reopening, but it really doesn’t sound like much fun: temperature checks, small numbers of people on park making the business case questionable and, most importantly, staggered seating where you can’t sit next to anyone. Can you see teenagers wanting to go to Thorpe Park, say, to ride Colossus when they’re sat on their own, having stood apart from their friends in the queue for half an hour beforehand? It’s a deeply unappealing prospect, so most people likely just won’t bother, and when gate numbers will have to be capped anyway, it may not be cost-effective to open.
In any case, nobody has a scooby what will happen in the coming months - so much depends on the progress of testing, the possible return of contact tracing and an eventual vaccine, and frankly, trips to theme parks should be well down anybody’s priority list, if indeed they have any disposable income left to visit them. Besides, other bits of the economy are far more important to get up and running first.
imanautie
TS Member
Whilst i agrees with most of your post some aspect of leisure could help reduce deaths and injuries from mental health issues, that is something I would hope SAGE and co are taking into account.
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Stevie
TS Member
It'll most likely be restaurants, pubs and cafes which will be relaxed first. Then theatres and cinemas, and museums. Leisure activities that are most likely more manageable when it comes to social distancing will probably be prioritised, theme parks will probably be at the bottom of the list.
imanautie
TS Member
That order whilst being what I fear seems to be the only viable option when the time comes.
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KolonelKlink
TS Member
Of course, and that is an important consideration - but as Stevie has said, you can achieve this in other ways - which don’t involve many thousands of people travelling from a wide area to congregate in one place. Unfortunately for theme parks, they’re probably up there with festivals and large-scale sporting events for being the worst breeding grounds for Covid.
imanautie
TS Member
I'm curious if the science matches our guesses in which is worse.
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