Theme Parks & Shopping Districts Reopening General Thread

[UNIrd]

Those pictures of the parking garage and Hogsmeade made me so disappointed in Universal and their management. Does anybody know how much capacity they need to make a profit? For instance, June had a very limited capacity and each week it seemed to go up. So what's the minimum capacity they need to keep up and running cause this seems unnecessary during these times of a pandemic.

Agreed. I'm thinking of canceling my stay at Cabana Bay. Those pics up top of Hogsmeade, FJ queue, and the garages are giving me anxiety. Think I may need to stick with Disney for now, although I really wanted to see the 2 houses.

 

[JoeCamel]

Agreed. I'm thinking of canceling my stay at Cabana Bay. Those pics up top of Hogsmeade, FJ queue, and the garages are giving me anxiety. Think I may need to stick with Disney for now, although I really wanted to see the 2 houses.

TBH if you are at CBBR and you want to do the houses you don't have to go to any of those places and can choose to when it is a better time.
How long are you staying?

 

[Mad Dog]

The one constant we're hearing from the experts is that there's not much chance of getting infected outdoors, even more so with people wearing masks. The super spread events are still primarily indoors. So
since it still appears the indoor parts of queues are being socially distanced for the most part, and the vast majority of people continue to wear masks, theme parks are still probably safer than most other places people go to, even with these larger crowds.

 

[UNIrd]

TBH if you are at CBBR and you want to do the houses you don't have to go to any of those places and can choose to when it is a better time.
How long are you staying?

4 nights. And remember that Cabana doesn't bypass garage security traffic like RPR, HRH, and PBH do. The buses dump you right into it.

 

[Mad Dog]

4 nights. And remember that Cabana doesn't bypass garage security traffic like RPR, HRH, and PBH do. The buses dump you right into it.

Walking will bypass garage security though. It's about the same as Portofino at apx. 15 minute. If you add the time of the bus trip, and the walk through the parking garage & Citiwalk, it usually takes
longer than that 15 minute walk. And that was before the covid parking garage security backup. The walk will certainly be very much shorter than the bus trip with the covid security mess at the parking garage.

 

[Vyrus]

I'm staying there next weekend and absolutely plan to do the pathway walk and not the buses.

 

[RevFreako]

4 nights. And remember that Cabana doesn't bypass garage security traffic like RPR, HRH, and PBH do. The buses dump you right into it.

Just uber to Hard Rock.

 

[Andysol]

4 nights. And remember that Cabana doesn't bypass garage security traffic like RPR, HRH, and PBH do. The buses dump you right into it.

I know CB is really inexpensive now, but RPR is $169 and HR is $189. Maybe spring for one of those as they’ll never be cheaper? Maybe drop to 3 nights (since no discount for extra nights now) w/ the EP as a compromise to help with price. The boat seats were distanced and all outdoors.

 

[MrTorrance]

I know CB is really inexpensive now, but RPR is $169 and HR is $189. Maybe spring for one of those as they’ll never be cheaper? Maybe drop to 3 nights (since no discount for extra nights now) w/ the EP as a compromise to help with price. The boat seats were distanced and all outdoors.

Good luck getting availability at those 2 over the weekend though. I booked RPR a couple months ago but checking today most of October is booked if you want a Saturday and Sunday night stay.

 

[Mad Dog]

Soooo. Sunday morning at 10:30 AM, and looking at the Touring plans covid era safety adjusted line times, it appears both USF & IOA are packed. Even during normal times, Universal doesn't seem to get
early Sunday morning crowds. Usually the crowds come around Noon.....People just love their horror stuff, I guess.

 

[shiekra38]

Soooo. Sunday morning at 10:30 AM, and looking at the Touring plans covid era safety adjusted line times, it appears both USF & IOA are packed. Even during normal times, Universal doesn't seem to get
early Sunday morning crowds. Usually the crowds come around Noon.....People just love their horror stuff, I guess.

Yes, and they've been on a general increase since Labor Day

I am a little worried about AP renewals for next year and after the "pay for a day" promo ends

 

[Mad Dog]

Yes, and they've been on a general increase since Labor Day

I am a little worried about AP renewals for next year and after the "pay for a day" promo ends

Most AP's probably have a long ways to go. They originally, before covid, added those 3 extra months for renewals starting Jan. 1st 2020, and then added another apx. 90 days for the amount of time the parks were closed....so most of those early renewals go well into the summer or beyond. So they have a bit of breathing room until the covid gets under control......They'll probably do another special for Floridians in 2001, but i doubt it will be as generous as the 'pay for a day' promo.

 

[Mad Dog]

New article today on Touring Plans Blog detailing WDW attendance trends..."Crowds & Wait Times Continue to Rise at WDW this Weekend". "The sublime time of WDW parks being quiet and empty seems to be behind us"....."It is clear that Disney has expanded it's availability of park reservations".

 

[ssirin88]

Most AP's probably have a long ways to go. They originally, before covid, added those 3 extra months for renewals starting Jan. 1st 2020, and then added another apx. 90 days for the amount of time the parks were closed....so most of those early renewals go well into the summer or beyond. So they have a bit of breathing room until the covid gets under control......They'll probably do another special for Floridians in 2001, but i doubt it will be as generous as the 'pay for a day' promo.

Our passes originally were expiring in June, and bumped to September. We haven't gone since February, but I just renewed last week to get the 3 months free locked in. We made plans to finally go back mid October during the weekdays. Have crowds been bad during the week or just weekends only?

 

[Freak]

New article today on Touring Plans Blog detailing WDW attendance trends..."Crowds & Wait Times Continue to Rise at WDW this Weekend". "The sublime time of WDW parks being quiet and empty seems to be behind us"....."It is clear that Disney has expanded it's availability of park reservations".

Glad I went when I did! That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to WDW when it’s virtually empty!

 

[Mad Dog]

Our passes originally were expiring in June, and bumped to September. We haven't gone since February, but I just renewed last week to get the 3 months free locked in. We made plans to finally go back mid October during the weekdays. Have crowds been bad during the week or just weekends only?

So far, it seems more like a weekend thing, though their charts show an increase in weekday waits too. . WDW just extended closing hours for some dates in October, so that's usually an indicator of increased demand. You might want to recheck those days with extended hours to see how they fit with your schedule.....Note: TP's 'observed' wait times (they have people reporting real times) are 10 to 15% below the times posted by WDW.

 

[GAcoaster]

It appears WDW crowds are more hotel guests on the weekends, and more day guests on weekdays (partly because blockouts were lifted for Cs on weekdays). If you come early or leave late on weekdays expect big backups at TTC for the transportation. That's the biggest issue for MK if the bottleneck of TTC to get day guests to and from the park.

 

[Viator]

18 Legislators in California are beginning to side with that of the parks and tourist destinations.

CA Rules For Reopening Disneyland, Universal Studios, Other Parks Must Be “Thoughtful” And “Responsible,” Says State’s Top Health Official – Updated

A group of 18 California state legislators sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday, requesting guidelines for parks to reopen.

deadline.com

 

[Jerroddragon]

18 Legislators in California are beginning to side with that of the parks and tourist destinations.

CA Rules For Reopening Disneyland, Universal Studios, Other Parks Must Be “Thoughtful” And “Responsible,” Says State’s Top Health Official – Updated

A group of 18 California state legislators sent a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday, requesting guidelines for parks to reopen.

deadline.com

I hope we hear something but the last press conference push did nothing

I really don't know why but he doesn't seem to want to even address theme parks.

Though Theme parks are also kinda being stumble as well, Knotts has a great Halloween event nothing stopped Universal at least from trying this kinda event...I know Disney has the union to work with but really not getting why Universal/Six Flags and Disneyland have not tried to open like other parks have with special events

 

[UNIrd]

For those of you who were following my plight, I ended up switching to Hard Rock Hotel. I'll miss Cabana but i think it's ultimately the best decision for the current situation.