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What changes to operations should we expect post Covid-19?

Matt N said:
But a week’s notice should surely still allow them to prepare for an opening in time for the summer holidays at the end of July?
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be about 3/4 weeks to get the park up to scratch so you are talking about possibly August to mid August. So think of it as a smaller park owner looking at the cost to reopen and how much has to go into place for 1 Month of the summer season.
 
imanautie said:
A week to
*Get staff
*Train staff
*Order f&b

Is probably unrealistic.

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As far as I’m aware, some of Alton’s staff are still working as essential workers, and a lot of the others have been furloughed. If they were given notice on or slightly before 4th July, that would give them a good 2-3 weeks to prepare before the big summer rush. I think they could prepare in 2-3 weeks.
 
Most parks have Staff in place, Have F&B suppliers available and can do training in roughly a couple of weeks. End of July is very feasible. More of a concern would be saftey testing of rides and equipment that would normally happen.
 
Matt N said:
As far as I’m aware, some of Alton’s staff are still working as essential workers, and a lot of the others have been furloughed. If they were given notice on or slightly before 4th July, that would give them a good 2-3 weeks to prepare before the big summer rush. I think they could prepare in 2-3 weeks.
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I think 3-4 weeks is a best case scenario to have the theme park running.

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MattyH said:
Most parks have Staff in place, Have F&B suppliers available and can do training in roughly a couple of weeks. End of July is very feasible. More of a concern would be saftey testing of rides and equipment that would normally happen.
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If mechanics are working, then I don’t see why they couldn’t test rides now or in June. It’s also worth remembering that a lot of the pre-season preparations likely happened in March, as the closure was announced very late on in the closed season (I think it was only a day or two before the park was due to open, correct me if I’m wrong?).
 
If they are working as essential workers then they are not Alton Towers staff. Some may come back, most will probably prefer it where they are now if they have new jobs with decent regular hours.

Thats the problem you get when you have 0 hour contracts..
 
imanautie said:
Could we be about to see some announcement by merlin?


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It says that they’re now asking those with short breaks booked between 1st June and 3rd July to move short breaks, so I think they may potentially be gearing up for a 4th July opening!

If they weren’t, they could have just gone for the 1st of the month like with their other extensions, so I think they are aiming for a 4th July reopening in line with the government’s current plan!
 
Matt N said:
It says that they’re now asking those with short breaks booked between 1st June and 3rd July to move short breaks, so I think they may potentially be gearing up for a 4th July opening!

If they weren’t, they could have just gone for the 1st of the month like with their other extensions, so I think they are aiming for a 4th July reopening in line with the government’s current plan!
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They have been doing that for gawd knows how long and at the end of June they could do it again. It’s just what they do and will keep doing.
 
I think it's a fairly safe bet that Merlin will work towards the assumption that they can reopen on 4th July, as that's what government advice indicates. Of course it could change, be moved back, but as others have said Merlin won't get specific confirmation that they'll be able to open on such-and-such a date, like any other industry (or schools for that matter - the first they heard about the 1st June target was Boris' national announcement).

So, to wait for such confirmation would be foolish - makes far more business sense to assume the parks will be able to open 4th July, and prepare for that, and then delay if necessary.
 
Islander said:
I think it's a fairly safe bet that Merlin will work towards the assumption that they can reopen on 4th July, as that's what government advice indicates. Of course it could change, be moved back, but as others have said Merlin won't get specific confirmation that they'll be able to open on such-and-such a date, like any other industry (or schools for that matter - the first they heard about the 1st June target was Boris' national announcement).

So, to wait for such confirmation would be foolish - makes far more business sense to assume the parks will be able to open 4th July, and prepare for that, and then delay if necessary.
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With the advice now being if you can't work from home you can travel to work merlin could start preparing now couldn't they?

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imanautie said:
With the advice now being if you can't work from home you can travel to work merlin could start preparing now couldn't they?

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Yep they could indeed, though I suspect they'll keep their staff Furloughed as long as possible to save money, and bring them in maybe a couple of weeks before opening.
 
It might be worth noting that I just watched TPW’s video on when UK parks might reopen, and he said that he has seen rides testing now when he has cycled past the park, so I think some preparations may be occurring now.
 
Matt N said:
It might be worth noting that I just watched TPW’s video on when UK parks might reopen, and he said that he has seen rides testing now when he has cycled past the park, so I think some preparations may be occurring now.
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Means nothing - they’ll be tested regularly during the closedown. Like cars, doesn’t do rides any good to sit unused for long periods - all sorts of mechanical defects can occur. Unlike cars, these assets are worth many millions of pounds, so you make sure to move them regularly


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Islander said:
Means nothing - they’ll be tested regularly during the closedown. Like cars, doesn’t do rides any good to sit unused for long periods - all sorts of mechanical defects can occur. Unlike cars, these assets are worth many millions of pounds, so you make sure to move them regularly


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If staff are on-site, though, they could also be doing other preparations too, such as cleaning and checking things over for safety.
 
You have to imagine that Merlin have been given some kind of further steer from the government on possible re-opening, because "step three" in their coronavirus action plan is incredibly woolly:

The ambition at this step is to open at least some of the remaining businesses and premises that have been required to close, including...hospitality (such as food service providers, pubs and accommodation)...and leisure facilities (like cinemas). They should also meet the COVID-19 Secure guidelines. Some venues which are, by design, crowded and where it may prove difficult to enact distancing may still not be able to re-open safely at this point, or may be able to open safely only in part.
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I've said this before and I'll repeat it - what qualifies as a "crowded" venue, and would it be sufficient to mitigate that at a park like Thorpe with its small footprint with reduced maximum attendance?
 
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