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2020: General Discussion

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Naturally the 2020 season thread has already taken a painfully cynical turn and the park hasn't even opened yet.
 
Rick said:
Naturally the 2020 season thread has already taken a painfully cynical turn and the park hasn't even opened yet.
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Merlin have decided to open up theme parks and attractions when the government has advised us not to do unnecessary things. Theme parks are high body contact places, are you telling me they will disinfect each harness after it's been touched? This virus can live for 9 days on a hard surface. You could take it home after a day out and kill your gran without knowing.

The company have lost it... It's pure greed... Cinemas, center parcs, Disney, universal studios, primark, etc have all closed! How is this doing anything but look after the money coming in.

It's simple greed, they are also putting staff family at risk and suppliers. Merlin do love the dark, twisted theme though so maybe it's how the business will end.
 
I never expected anything less from Merlin, i'm surprised people are so shocked. Universal and Disney are able to see the bigger picture, with this being a global pandemic and all, but yet again Merlin have demonstrated just how low they're willing to go in order to make a buck.

Official government advice on preventing the spread of coronavirus states:
  • People should start working from home wherever possible
  • All unnecessary travel stopped
  • Pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues to be avoided
  • Anyone living with someone who has a cough or a temperature to stay at home for 14 days
We can only hope people are sensible enough to listen to this advice and make it uneconomical for Merlin to keep these parks open.
 
Let's see what happens on Saturday, I bought cinema tickets for today only yesterday, lo and behold I am not there this evening.

Pleasure Beach were still advertising wristbands for this weekend when I drove by earlier.
 
This just seems really shortsighted.

Ok, they need to be profitable to survive, they've only really just begun to bounce back after a few nightmare years...but opening the park costs a heck of a lot of money, and if they don't get the numbers in, they lose a heck of a lot of cash. And they aren't going to get the numbers. My current workplace is down 90% on footfall. Their losses may be heavily reduced if they don't actually open the gates, surely most of their costs are paying seasonal staff?

The view online seeks to be they're being irresponsible - a disregard for the health and safety of the public seems to be a really REALLY bad attitude to be displaying, for any park, but especially Towers.

It's awful for their staff, but long term one of the region's key employers surviving 2020 is a higher priority. I'm no expert, but this all just feels very wrong.
 
I think Merlin should close their parks however I sympathise with the independent parks because many of them are unsure whether they will survive the outbreak.
 
RicketyCricket said:
Happy Valley Shanghai reopened today and Shanghai Ocean Park is opening on Friday. That's got to be good news for the industry going forward.
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It's great news for parks in countries where social distancing measures are being reduced. For those where it's only just starting, and a lot less intensely, it suggests a very long period of measures that'll affect them.

If China is now comfortable opening attractions after 2 months of extreme lockdown, how long will shutdowns of venues last here with only a fraction of their commitment to containment?

Of course this is irrelevant as we aren't even closing parks here!

EDIT - I mean my point is irrelevant, not yours
 
Ryan said:
It's great news for parks in countries where social distancing measures are being reduced. For those where it's only just starting, and a lot less intensely, it suggests a very long period of measures that'll affect them.

If China is now comfortable opening attractions after 2 months of extreme lockdown, how long will shutdowns of venues last here with only a fraction of their commitment to containment?

Of course this is irrelevant as we aren't even closing parks here!

EDIT - I mean my point is irrelevant, not yours
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I think we will be facing stricter measures in the next few weeks, they seem to be slowly building up to a big shutdown.

Either way it's good to know that there is hope 2-3 months down the line.
 
RicketyCricket said:
Either way it's good to know that there is hope 2-3 months down the line.
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I know it's not important right now, but it's not great in a theme park sense. Even if towers do go ahead with opening, like you said I think the government will become more strict on it and force leisure places to shut. And by the time we get to chinas position where its getting better, that'll be may/june time. This means the season won't really be up and running until coming on summer. At that point there's only few months until scarefest and then end of the season. It's gonna be a short year where theme park's are concerned
 
Listening to the news, thinking is if people ignore the advice to saying hone and carry on socialising

If they don’t see a drop in the rate of infection they will bring in mandatory isolation

We will be like France. Unable to leave our houses or face a fine from the police if you do.
 
This is where the government needs to get off its arse.

If it wants the public to be social distancing, it should not advise. It should mandate. They should force premises to be closed if that's what they actually want. People are looking for direction and they need to make it unambiguous.
 
bluesonichd said:
Listening to the news, thinking is if people ignore the advice to saying hone and carry on socialising

If they don’t see a drop in the rate of infection they will bring in mandatory isolation

We will be like France. Unable to leave our houses or face a fine from the police if you do.
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Fact check!
The French can leave their houses for.
Work.
Chemist.
Other essential journeys.
 
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