JoshC.

Personally I'm expecting an announcement tonight or tomorrow morning saying that Merlin will close all their attractions from Saturday morning onwards. Just not enough people to justify the hassle and money they're spending to run the attractions.

More accurately, all Dungeons attractions are closed as of today.

The thing is, if everyone operates with the 2 meter rule, then it basically means nothing can open: -Food places can't open as kitchens are tight environments (or if they do open, they'll have minimal staff who likely couldn't cope with demand) -Supermarkets (and any retail places) can't open tills -Supermarkets / retail would have to have a maximum number of people allowed in, which would be very small -etc In theory, anyone going out at the moment should: -not have the virus -not be living with someone who has the virus -have had very minimal / no contact with anyone who had the virus -not be displaying any possible symptoms of the virus So it does mean, in theory, going out is fine. The issue is that people will still choose to go out even if they fall into one of the above 4 categories. This is particularly true in people who have the virus and end up completely asymptotic, or in people who are still in the incubation period. That's why the 2m recommendation exists. Because of that theory, being within 2m of a person for a split second (in terms of checking restraints) is fine, in theory, since the chances of the virus spreading in those circumstances is small. And presumably you'll only end up sitting next to people who are in your group, who you've stood next to all day, and who you've probably shared a car with, etc. Obviously that's all theoretical and there's still plenty of issues in practice. Arguably the parks shouldn't be opening as a precaution, but under the recommendations and theory, they can make it work.

Presumably the local government have said June 15th as the worst case scenario, and will regularly monitor the situation and bring it forward if necessary. I'd hazard a guess that the first update will be in early-to-mid April, so it could still be possible for the park to open on April 19th. However, if not, anyone who does (admittedly, very optimistically) buy a ticket for April 19th will be able to have their ticket revalidated. It likely allows a steadier stream of (some!) income for the park in these difficult times.

Before this afternoon's press conference, both Thorpe and Towers had cancelled their upcoming press events (for Black Mirror and Walliams World respectively). Not surprising, as I doubt the press would give the time of day to theme parks at the moment either. Given that and the recent developments in the UK, it feels like we're significantly closer to all UK attractions closing.

As has been discussed partially in the Phantasialand thread, plenty of German parks have announced / had enforced upon closures over the past 24 hours. These include: -Phantasialand and Movie Park Germany, who won't be able to open until at least 19th April, after the local government announced the enforced closure of all leisure and entertainment places. -Hansa Park (delayed until at least 20th April) -The likes of Holiday Park, Skyline Park and more have said they're delaying until at least 4th April The only two German parks to not announce closures are Heide Park and Europa Park. Northern Germany is the least affected area of coronavirus in the country. Heide Park released a statement today saying they are monitoring the situation closely and working with local health and government authorities about when the season can start. So whilst they haven't outright said they're delaying opening, it seems all but inevitable. Europa Park closed Rulantica (their water park) over the weekend, and are going to make a final decision sometime over this week regarding the park. With these closures, this pretty much leaves UK parks as the only major parks across Europe and America that currently plan to remain open as usual. Legoland is currently fully open, with Towers and Chessington having had successful previews ahead of their opening weekends next weekend. Obviously with the ever-changing landscape, it's impossible to know how long they'll remain open, but one cannot imagine it'll be for much longer...

If you have to say that, it usually means it is a biased opinion... Also how in earth you can use a 12 second video of mostly pitch black to judge the quality of the ride's upgrades is beyond me.

Given the situation in the North Rhine-westphilia region is one of the worst in Germany, it would be foolish to expect the park to actually open on the 4th, regardless of what their website says. Part of me thinks that by being forced to close by the local government might be giving some parks some sort of protection / insurance they can claim for any financial losses. It would explain why some parks in some regions are currently set to remain open despite the inevitable closures. Assuming parks open for the 2020 main season (which they almost definitely will at some point, I'm sure), I still believe that Rookburgh will end up opening in 2020.

I see no reason why this won't open this year. Construction is an uncertainty in terms of whether it can continue, but I don't see why not? I still reckon the area was due to open in around June-time, so if they're able to continue with construction, that should be achievable still. Obviously if the park doesn't open until the summer, they're going to be hit number-wise (like every other park). But that's more reason to ensure their big new ride opens, since it encourages people to visit all the more.

Business as usual for Rookburgh in these uncertain times, with progress going at a snail's pace:

I never feel like political discussions go down well on the internet, no less a theme park forum, but oh well... I'm completely anti-conservative, and anti-Boris. But I have to say that when watching the press conference yesterday where Boris and the experts discussed what they were doing and why, I completely got it. Impossible to know, of course, if they're the right decisions, and there's still - in my mind - questions that should be asked about the legitimacy of the research done (as far as I know, the research they quote isn't publicly available, which leaves some doubt in mind as to whether they actually are just plucking things out of thin air). If we take things at face value, though, it's hard for me to reasonably say what they're doing is wrong. Some of Boris' wording wasn't great (further still since it can be taken out of context), but there's not much that can be done. I really hope we don't live to regret the action take so far though, of course. I personally never feel that making comparisons to other countries is a good idea. Especially since we're on an island, which drastically alters how this could spread. And also, just because other countries are doing things in a certain way, it still doesn't mean it's the right way. Death rates might be tiny, but there's likely still a number of children catching the virus. They just might not be showing symptoms, or recovering very quickly. The greater issue is that children can catch it and pass it on to others (especially since children are less well adept to cleaning their hands thoroughly, or catching sprays from coughs and sneezes), increasing the spread to adults and, in particular, those at greater risks. Drastic and melodramatic? No. This is a severe situation. And the media are just responding to what the public want - as much information as possible. The bigger issue is that social media is spreading false information, people are panicking, etc. That's where all of the major issues stem from. If, as modelled, there are 10,000 people in the UK who have / have had coronavirus currently, that's about 1 in 700 people at the moment. On average, about 1 in 2500 people get seriously injured in a car crash in the UK every year. In other words, you are MUCH more likely to catch coronavirus than you are to be seriously injured in a car crash. That's not to scare anyone, but it's the truth. As I say, I never think political discussions go down well, and this is probably steering the conversation in the wrong direction. It's impossible to know if what any country has done is right or wrong. But what is obvious is that we're in this for the long haul. A vaccine realistically won't be ready till next year. The virus spreads very easily. It's not clear if you're immune after catching it, or how long for. The worst is yet to come. As the general public, all we can do is do out best to look after ourselves, follow the advice and apply common sense. No one wants to be isolated any longer than necessary, and no one wants to see the country crumble. Hopefully we won't see that, and whatever happens in the days and weeks ahead will help reduce the impact for everyone.

Thorpe Park are saying that, since government advice hasn't changed, they plan to open as usual: Drayton Manor are also saying it's business as usual for now:

And Efteling have now announced that, as of tomorrow, the park will be closed, and the entire resort will be closed from Monday: The resort is usually open 365 days a year. Legoland opened fully today and have encouraged guests to keep their distance between groups in queue lines, similar to Efteling's previous advice.

At this point it's less about what the government will force companies and organising bodies to do, and more about what those companies and bodies feel they should do to get a good public reaction. Football has been affected following players and coaches getting the virus. That's forced their hand somewhat, but there had been plenty of people who were saying it should happen before then. I feel like Merlin will sooner rather than later decide to close of their own accord, simply because it'll look good to the masses and avoid "why aren't your staff disinfecting seats Street every cycle" type comments

2020 park map is available here: https://www.chessington.com/media/msbjs1wa/2020-park-map-theme-park-zoo-sea-life.pdf It's interest to note that Blue Barnacle, despite being an entirely new piece of ride hardware with a new theme, isn't in any way being marketed as 'new' or even 'returning' for 2020, which is refreshing.

Tayto Park have announced they're delaying opening until at least the 4th of April

There's no way around it - coronavirus is going to affect our daily lives in one way or another. And with open season just around the corner, it remains to be seen how parks around the UK and the rest of the western wordl will cope and what measures they'll put in place, as well as how long it will be before Chinese parks (which have been closed for weeks already) begin to reopen. I figured it would be interesting to have a thread to track what's going on, and people's reactions... Merlin Parks The current stance across Merlin's UK parks and attractions is pretty simple: if you feel unwell don't come. If you have coronavirus-like symptoms when at the park, let staff know. Otherwise, come, and wash your hands regularly, with extra hand washing points available, and promises of an enhanced cleaning regime too. Until the parks are open fully, we won't know what other measures they have in place, or how it will affect the parks. Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris are currently open as normal, but have closed Single Rider Queues. The logic being that they believe less people would feel 100% comfortable sitting next to a stranger. It very much feels like a weak 'Look, we're doing something' rather than a bigger measure. A couple of maintenance have tested positive. Efteling Efteling have a FAQ about the virus. As of today, they have introduced a limit to the number of people that can be any ride's queue at any time - when that number is reached, they'll close the queue for a period of time until the number reduces. They're also encouraging people to keep space between each other in queues. On top of this, they have removed several tables and the like from busier areas to help keep distances between groups who are sitting down. Efteling is open all year round, and they're currently in a quiet period, where some of their rides are closed for maintenance. All of the rides are scheduled to open at a similar time to when other parks open. Toverland Toverland are partially open at the moment, and introduced stronger cleaning regimes, including hourly disinfecting wipe-downs of all rides. America Most American parks are following American government advice, and have sent out emails of reassurance to passholders about them taking appropriate steps. Year-round parks like Disney and Universal remain open with little changes for now. China Disneyland Shanghai closed on 25th January. Whilst the park remains closed still now, some restaurants and entertainment offerings re-opened this week. This is by no means a complete list, and I expect we'll see some updates from UK parks in the coming days after the government announces its Delay stage stance today. Feel free to add and discuss.

Interesting. When I first did my list, I literally just did the 10 rides I hated the most. Then looked back and saw 3 SLCs and 2 Boomerangs, and then I thought to myself is that *really* any surprise? It surely makes sense that if I hate one ride, I'm of course going to hate its clone. But in both cases, I've ridden another clone of each ride type and enjoyed it (Mayan at Energylandia for SLC, Speed of Sound at Walibi Holland for a Boomerang). And it's not just theme / style or whatever, it's that as a ride, they are simply more enjoyable, because they are nowhere near as uncomfortable or painful to ride. Mayan it's largely down to restraints I reckon, and likely age as well helps. And further, the difference between my ride on Vampire and Condor were completely different. In short, I get why you call them all the same thing. I get why plenty of people will. But out of the 4 cloned SLCs I've done, the difference in quality is actually huge, so there's no way I could group them together and say 'any SLC is this bad'.

So the track was completed for this two days ago. Yesterday it took human riders:

True, the station in it's worst state wasn't memorable. But just because it wasn't memorable, it doesn't mean it was bad. And in my opinion, it was never bad. It still looked pretty great, and I'd take it over a solid 80-90% of coaster stations I've experienced I'd say. Maybe that says more about the quality of coaster stations I've seen, but still.. There's a whole discussion about the price integrity of the two parks, with a vast majority of Chessington's visitors almost either effectively getting in for free thanks to Annual Passes, or only paying about 60% of the walk up price, compared to Phantasialand where the majority pay the full price. But that's a big sidetrack to your point.. And anyways, there isn't any reasonable way to pardon the dip in quality. But it still looked good in my opinion after the dip in quality. Wicker Man is a...strange comparison. I guess you've just chosen it because it's the most recent example of a Merlin coaster with theming in the station. But the station for Wicker Man is quite simple, no? The pre show is nice, but I think as a whole, the feeling of Vampire's station has always been better for a 'scary' family ride than Wicker Man. I don't know enough about design processes to know what difference in opportunities truly is. Obviously more technology is available, and there's likely more people who are able to make their way into the industry (meaning more ideas), but outside that I wouldn't be able to guess what the changes are like there. But in any case, yes, the fact that the original station experience isn't something that's been matched by the park shows just how good the original was, and how impressive it truly is.

Trains ahoy

Haven't been through Vampire since the update, but just want to throw my two cents here for now.. Even when Vampire was in its worst state, the station was still great. I might be in the minority who think that, but oh well... Visually, it looked great - it still had a level of spookiness about it, the lighting was at worst okay and the music added something. Sure, it had been much better, but I still went through and thought 'hey, this is nice'. Obviously it's sad to have seen it in a weaker state, but in the there and now, I never exactly had a problem with it. From what I've seen of the changes, it's clearly an improvement. Up to the original's standard? No. But does it really matter that they haven't met that (arguably world class) standard? Again, no. I had family who visited on Sunday, they loved it. In particular, my brother (who's bang in the target market for Chessington and the ride itself) loved it, and it's definitely something which will last in terms of memories. In fairness, it didn't need to be any more and was actually a reasonably enjoyable scare attraction. Easy to knock it for being cheap and simple, especially retrospectively, but since it actually worked and fulfilled its purpose, I don't think anyone that went through really shed any tears about lack of quality.

Some of the latest aerial shots of Aqualantis from FOMO Coaster suggest this could be clone of Saven, a Junior Boomerang opening at Farup Sommerland this year: (credit for the layout: https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=167075520) The park already have a Junior Boomerang (it's a clone of the one at Paultons), so it does seem very unnecessary. But hey, whatever floats their boat. Presumably once finished, this will have a different look and feel to it (with the possibility of a splashdown). And interestingly, the park have added extra theming to their current Boomerang. What a place..

Movie Park continues to see strange (for a Parque Reunidos park at least) amounts of investment... During this season, the park will see the following: -A retheme of their SLC, to Lucky Luke, making it fit in with its western surroundings -An extension to their Paw Patrol area, which opened last year -The removal of their Walking Dead maze, which will be replaced by an upcharge laser gun walkthrough attraction -A Dunkin Donuts outlet introduced And for 2021, the park will be opening something new in the former Ice Age ride building. The ride was closed a few years ago, and for the past couple of years was home to their biggest Halloween attraction, Wrong Turn. They've started social meida teasers too: The building itself is huge (almost 4000sqm), which is the second largest building on park (just behind the building the holds Van Helsing). For some comparison, that's about 1.5x the size of the likes of Duel, and about twice the size as the likes of Derren Brown and Tomb Blaster. For some context for those who have been to Phantasialand, it's similar in size to the floor space of Wuze Town (including back of house and queue areas). In other words, the space is HUGE! There's no indication what could go in there. The Ice Age ride was an indoor boat ride, hence why it took up such a huge space. Current rumours suggest that the through is being removed; whether that's for a replacement or not in unclear. MPG have a few indoor rides, but the main one they lack of a shooter of some sorts. That would be top of my list for the park as well to be honest, even over a new coaster. So fingers crossed...

The above two posts have made my bones ache, joints creak and hair turn grey. How dare I age.