Florida Theme Parks & Shopping Districts Reopening General Thread

[Chumpieboy]

Spent the weekend at Universal after 4 separate visits to Disney since re-opening. I'll be honest.. Universal is NOT doing as good of a job in any aspect.

Mask compliance was much worse than Disney... understandable when there's A LOT MORE people and a higher concentration of these people in small spaces. One guy or girl on the blvd with a sign in not sufficient to patrol this. There were noses everywhere. Disney doesn't let that fly at all and it seems every CM is tasked to enforce this. Universal saw a lot of TMs turning a blind eye and not policing. I'd say Disney is at 99% mask compliance while Universal guests are at 60%. Pretty sure the rule at Disney is it can be removed while eating or drinking while stationary. This is not the case at Universal. People constantly had them off while walking. If this not the case... again... TERRIBLE JOB policing.

Also, the waits were ridiculous on Saturday. Saw Gringotts go up to 210 minutes and was regularly above 170 minutes... Not sure how they are distancing on this ride but the only visible coaster, HRRR, was seating every row. Shrek went up to 125min and stayed consistently over 100min. Mummy, Minions, and Fallon were virtual line all day so couldn't tell you how long the waits were but they had both run out and asked you to check back at 2pm and 4pm. (This was at noon).

With so many virtual lines, where does that leave people? Yup.. IN THE STREETS. Not the ideal time to have so many attractions on virtual without policing and enforcing distancing. Hand sanitizer not as widely available as Disney. Yes, fingerprint scanning is back and they are cleaning it with what looks like a dirty rag in between parties.

If you feel uncomfortable with the idea of going to theme parks in a pandemic, Universal on a weekend is not the way to go right now. I would start with Disney, though I understand they've steadily increased capacity. The only time it felt remotely uncomfortable was at MK when everyone heads down the exits at closing time. Monorail line looked just like after a regular park night. Even with "sold out" days at DHS or MK, it never feels half as crowded as it did at Universal.

My experience the last two weeks has been the opposite. (My anecdote cancels out your anecdote nyaah nyahh nya nya nyahh!)

I've seen more TMs call people out for nose violations; you are forced to have sanitizer squirted in your hands before boarding any Uni ride.

I've seen more broken/empty sanitizer dispensers at WDW. Less enforcement from CMs.

In both places, social distancing outside of lines has been horrible. If there are no spacers on the ground, people don't know what to do. There was a line at DS to get into the huge Disney store there. The line stretched out to the parking lot and along the parking lot walkway for a good bit. Every few minutes we would move one or two spaces. Worked like a charm. Once inside the store however, it was a free-for-all. People crowding around displays, walking in different directions into the common central walkways, etc. I felt unsafe there. (Same as the Halloween popup store in US)

It's a mixed bag for both properties. Each does good things on paper and enforcement varies moment by moment and people will still be people (insert quote from the MIB movie about crowds).

 

[Mad Dog]

USF, according to the Touring Plans covid era adjusted line times, was busier than the regular Mondays since Universal reopened. A clear sign that the houses being
opened is helping attendance on the previous dead crowd weekdays. Hopefully, this trend continues.

 

[agentj]

As I mentioned in a previous post, been to Uni for one week in June and two in October, and found no issues with Uni"s Covid 19 protocols or any issue with how the TM's reacted to guests not in compliance. . I totally agree that as a whole, that my families experience was the same as yours. Saw none of the examples that Unird observed

 

[snayberry]

I went to Disney and Universal last week. I enjoyed Disney much more and the wait times were almost none. The wait times at Universal were insane and way too long. I walked right on to Flight Of Passage and I used to wait for that ride at least 2 hours. I did feel safe at both but Universal seemed more slammed packed.

 

[Andysol]

Ive been twice for 4 and 5 days, respectively, and agree with @UNIrd assessment. Though I can't speak for Disney as I haven't been. Additionally, people were vocally happy to not be wearing masks at Volcano Bay. In line I'd overhear people talking about it on multiple occasions. I'm even one of the people he's talking about- drinking a bottle of water while walking at 2 in the afternoon to escape the mask for 10 mins. And the only reason I went both trips is because VB was open (and maskless) and were 2 full days of my trips.

As I've said numerous times, these companies are not friends or allies in any way; in particular now. Anything they do is for money and for branding/selling. Nothing is done out of goodwill. There are many executives or managers who believe differently and individually; where eliminating layoffs or compliance is more important, for example. But the companies, themselves; and the directives from on high, don't care.

And if Universal is still slammed while being less compliant, and Disney is struggling and being more compliant, then it's quite possible compliance is a deciding factor to attendance. Maybe they've even realized that less forced compliance is of benefit to them. It's possible that less compliance = more crowds = more money w/ less scrutiny by being UOR instead of WDW and they've just unofficially been moving more and more in that direction as the attendance and profits are trending upwards.

 

[UNIrd]

I'm thrilled that many of you did not share my experience at Universal. Just to clarify.. my experience at Universal was on the WEEKEND. Which has been widely documented here as having a larger concentration of guests due to the regional park-like attendance trends since reopening. I think wait times of 210min for Gringotts, 125min for Shrek 4D, 65min for Kang & Kodos says it all... and it's not Hell Week. There's just way too many people being let into the parks right now.

I'm telling everyone who asks me they might want to stay away from Universal on weekends for now unless you really want to see the 2 houses (which I felt actually did have a good system and was effective in distancing). Otherwise, more room for y'all. And yes I get asked enough because people are still afraid to go! They're like hey.. you've been back to the parks a few times and you haven't died. What is it like? Is it safe?

Also, my comparison was to Disney parks on the weekend... DHS, MK, Epcot on "sold out" days across August, September, and October. I cannot speak for Disney Springs as I have not made it back there but I have heard it can get pretty bad there so I rather not.

But in other news... my chicken & goat cheese crepe was delicious.

 

[Tbad556]

I'm thrilled that many of you did not share my experience at Universal. Just to clarify.. my experience at Universal was on the WEEKEND. Which has been widely documented here as having a larger concentration of guests due to the regional park-like attendance trends since reopening. I think wait times of 210min for Gringotts, 125min for Shrek 4D, 65min for Kang & Kodos says it all... and it's not Hell Week. There's just way too many people being let into the parks right now.

I'm telling everyone who asks me they might want to stay away from Universal on weekends for now unless you really want to see the 2 houses (which I felt actually did have a good system and was effective in distancing). Otherwise, more room for y'all. And yes I get asked enough because people are still afraid to go! They're like hey.. you've been back to the parks a few times and you haven't died. What is it like? Is it safe?

Also, my comparison was to Disney parks on the weekend... DHS, MK, Epcot on "sold out" days across August, September, and October. I cannot speak for Disney Springs as I have not made it back there but I have heard it can get pretty bad there so I rather not.

But in other news... my chicken & goat cheese crepe was delicious.

FWIW, and I've said this in this thread before, but I've had quite a few TMs tell me exactly what you've said as well. I've also heard Disney has gotten a bit crazier in the past few weeks, but still not quite Universal levels of bad.

On a totally different note, for the sake of equality since I berated the Disney layoffs last week, it's incredibly sad to keep hearing about more layoffs happening behind the scenes at UO while no one realizes it since Universal is doing it much more quietly and less all at once. Heard about more today unfortunately, largely including folks who have been with the company for a long time. My heart just aches for all of the TMs/CMs right now.

 

[Journey_On]

On a totally different note, for the sake of equality since I berated the Disney layoffs last week, it's incredibly sad to keep hearing about more layoffs happening behind the scenes at UO while no one realizes it since Universal is doing it much more quietly and less all at once. Heard about more today unfortunately, largely including folks who have been with the company for a long time. My heart just aches for all of the TMs/CMs right now.

I agree. When the news of VB closing (from Nov-Feb) came out, what the public did not hear was how many TMs were affected by this. There were a lot.

 

[GAcoaster]

Interesting look at the different approaches here in Orlando: Is SeaWorld Growing at the Expense of Disney and Universal in Florida? | The Motley Fool

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Interesting look at the different approaches here in Orlando: Is SeaWorld Growing at the Expense of Disney and Universal in Florida? | The Motley Fool

Raise your hand if you ever thought you’d see that title a few years ago.

 

[TommyJK]

Interesting look at the different approaches here in Orlando: Is SeaWorld Growing at the Expense of Disney and Universal in Florida? | The Motley Fool

Meh. I liken it to the following two quotes:

"Any port in a storm"
and
"Is Pepsi ok?" (or more aptly in this scenarios you would ask "Is RC Cola ok?")

Disney and Universal's more conservative approach may give a small/temporary boost to Seaworld, but when things get more "back to normal" I'm sure the numbers will shake out as they always do.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Meh. I liken it to the following two quotes:

"Any port in a storm"
and
"Is Pepsi ok?" (or more aptly in this scenarios you would ask "Is RC Cola ok?")

Disney and Universal's more conservative approach may give a small/temporary boost to Seaworld, but when things get more "back to normal" I'm sure the numbers will shake out as they always do.

If they get back to normal...

 

[Brian G.]

If they get back to normal...

STOP! Seriously.

 

[HalfGlass]

wow...

 

[UNIrd]

Of course he would... The sad part is, people tend to think, "Well, if the government says it's okay, then it must be safe." No. It's not. They don't give a flying Ford about you.

 

[Nick]

wow...

The Dolphins are doing it right. 13,000 fans is only running at 20% capacity. The Chiefs had 16,000 at their game the other day and it seemed extremely well spaced.

 

[GAcoaster]

Disney and Universal's more conservative approach may give a small/temporary boost to Seaworld, but when things get more "back to normal" I'm sure the numbers will shake out as they always do.

SeaWorld was smart in finally just embracing their role as a local/regional park rather than trying to keep up with the big guys. They've been building a loyal passholder following and will continue to offer a better value proposition than the big parks which appeals to the low wage economy of the Florida market. There's no doubt Disney/Universal will always be the overall "winners", but SeaWorld is going to continue to do well if they stay the course.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Of course he would... The sad part is, people tend to think, "Well, if the government says it's okay, then it must be safe." No. It's not. They don't give a flying Ford about you.

Id be very interested if they gave a flying Ford about us.

 

[RevFreako]

Interesting look at the different approaches here in Orlando: Is SeaWorld Growing at the Expense of Disney and Universal in Florida? | The Motley Fool

The best lesson I ever learned in Intro to Journalism was "If the headline is a question, the answer is no."

 

[HandsomePete]

The Dolphins may be planning on 13,000 fans, but they haven’t had that many show up in years.