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2020: General Discussion

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Kraken27 said:
Can't believe that Merlin even planned to open in the first place.
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looking at images of Chessington (on Chessington Buzz Facebook page) they were reasonably sensible, signage about distances in queues, only loading one group on each row with a clear row between in coasters, every other bench for the stage show taped off etc. They had a robust plan to enforce social distancing but I think that in the last week we have moved on significantly from just avoid crowded venues to a thought more of stay at home completely.
I don’t think their plan was bad, for a week ago but attitudes and plans are changing very very quickly at the moment.
The next three months is going to be tough.
 
Two weeks ago the UK had its first Corona death but we are now having 40+ deaths a day. The situation has changed rapidly and Merlin had to respond. The Health and Safety measures that were first suggested 3 weeks ago now look irrelevant.

Merlin did the right thing in the end. This pandemic is likely to result in thousands of deaths in the UK. Closing the park won't stop the virus, but if just one life was saved it is worth closing for.
 
D4n said:
Give it a chance.

A lot of vegan food is very good quality nowadays.

People just aren't willing to give it a chance.
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Despite being from Butcher stock (work wise, not Pat...) I switched to only eating meat at weekends recently and occasionally at restaurants midweek, swapping out supermarket meats largely for plant-based burgers and mince. Even the new, cheaper range at Aldi is great, up there with Linda McCartney sausages. One of the best decisions of my life, and even more enticing when I get to eat a good quality steak or roast dinner at the weekend.
 
Merlin have responded so is it not now time for other businesses to follow suit pub chains and alike they are just as high risk if not more so than a theme park as a breeding ground for covid19. Talk about us becoming vegan with what's left in shops and if pubs close (as I belive they should like all you guys said theme parks should ) we will all be Tea total as the beer shelves are empty in supermarkets!! So dry April May and June!
 
Good joke about corona . when I went to tesco earlier beer shelves where well stripped and guy said that was the next panic buy spree area they were experiencing so be prepared
 
themeparkfan said:
Good joke about corona . when I went to tesco earlier beer shelves where well stripped and guy said that was the next panic buy spree area they were experiencing so be prepared
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I was being serious, there was stacks of it. No meat, milk or bread. But Corona? Loads.
 
This is a good move by Merlin. I'm supposed to be staying in April so I'm going to wait before trying to rebook as I know they'll probably play the "we don't know if we'll be open yet" card.
 
Whilst I feel Merlin have done the right thing [finally - they certainly dragged their feet on it] by deciding not to open their theme parks as planned, we should share a thought for the employees.

The vast majority of the theme park employees are seasonal, hourly paid & doubtless on zero hours contracts. I suspect many of them have been told their contract is on indefinite hold / have been made redundant - this is before they have even started properly, i.e. open season (yes, they'll have done training, but that's it).

I know Merlin have swung the axe at Sea Life centres making hourly paid staff redundant.
 
The only thing that matters is your health, family and people around you if it means just going to work and back from the next 5/6 months so be it.
The only thing closing all the places is that the temporary staff isn’t gonna get paid and kids missing out on there education and not been able to sit exams this year.
 
SuperMuscleMan said:
The national trust owns 1/4 of the country's coastline! I highly doubht they can close that. Keeping fit and being in the parklands and large gardens will play a huge part for keeping the mental and fitness of many safe.
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Of course not, I'm not that naive. My point was aimed at the National Trust gardens as obviously those are the closest things to Alton Towers' grounds. Anyway my point is completely irrelevant now.
 
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