Steaks being broken this year due to Covid

Raven-Phile said:

This is Magnum’s line from Sunday.

I am in the kpjb camp. We are not locals, but have become increasingly a Disney Park family. We would totally miss the fireworks and parades and some of the shows, (but not the meet and greets, save maybe Anna and Elsa), but we're really mostly there for the rides and ambiance. I have done (and enjoy doing) the master plan to the minute to optimize the number of rides (and in Dec. 2018 did a 7 day trip where we hit everything at least once, never waiting 20 minutes except...wait for it...M&G with Anna and Elsa) and that's it's own fun, but the idea of just being able to say, "Hey kids, want to do Space Mountain?" and then being on Space Mountain 10 minutes later has a HUGE appeal. Hell, it might even save me money in the long run because if we ride everything to death over the course of a 4 or 5 day trip, we don't have to go back for another couple of years.

Lord Gonchar said:

Also, philosophically speaking, if we went the "let the chips fall where they may" route, things are technically back to normal (in terms of our actions) the minute we make that decision. If an individual still harbors reservations, that's on them the same as it would be under any circumstance.

Maybe in some philosophical sense, but not in the very real sense of "will <person> go to <location>." Sure, Disney World might be letting in 200,000 people a day, but are there 200,000 people willing to go under the "do whatever you want" conditions? I certainly wouldn't. Hell, if there were no mask regulations (and people decided not to wear masks voluntarily), I probably wouldn't go to the grocery store.

kpjb said:

2) My kids (and I) want to go on the Star Wars crap and would rather not spend 2 hours in line for it. So who's the sucker, the ones who go now and pay $100 to get to ride it 5x in a day, or those who wait a year and pay $100 to maybe get on it once with a bunch of sweaty mouthbreathers pressed up against you in line?

Copy and pasted from "Florida Governor" thread:

Tommytheduck
Thursday, August 27, 2020 2:48 PM
I was told by 2 local AP holders (and you can correct me/them) that even with the lower attendance, the Star Wars rides are now operating at reduced hours and there is a limit of one ride per day on ROTR no matter how low the crowds are.

I was considering a single day visit in Sept or Oct purely for SWGE, but if that's the case, why bother?

BrettV
Thursday, August 27, 2020 3:08 PM
That is correct, and you still need to be at the park at park open to sign up for the virtual queue, and many days the slots are gone in less than a minute.

They do an afternoon release now at 3 or 3:30 and it's the same.

BrettV said:

As for Cedar Point, crowds or not, it's going to get worse as the weeks go by. Here's the current notice for this weekend in terms of attraction availability:

Ride Availability Sept. 12 & 13, 2020
The following attractions will not operate (subject to change): Antique Cars, SlingShot, Frontier Fling, Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island, Snake River Falls, Thunder Canyon, Power Tower, Corkscrew, Rougarou, WindSeeker, Wicked Twister, Sky Ride, Wave Swinger. Monster will not operate Sunday.

If you've got Power Tower, Corkscrew and Rougarou already down for the count on Saturday and Sunday, how much larger will this list be by the end of October? Combined with growing crowds and the continued reduced capacity and it'll likely be quite the s***show on a nice October Saturday.

I'm actually pleased with the list for this weekend. The list is pretty consistent with what it has been the past few weeks. Gemini isn't even on the list, and the 3 rides you listed have not been open consistently since the park opened in July.

There is still a decent chance the list will continue to grow as we move into October, but it was not a big drop off for week 1 after Labor Day.

I agree that it's not a bad list at all. I just worry that as the weeks go on the park will get more crowded as that list gets larger.

Even with steady attendance, for each ride that closes that's "x" number of people that then need to go somewhere else. I expect to see Gemini on that list in October, as it's usually closed for the last week or two of the season anyway. I also wouldn't be shocked to see Mine Ride, Iron Dragon, Maxair, Skyhawk, and virtually all of the flats join the list as we get closer to the end of October.

But at the same time, they're open and seem to be doing better than most other parks. And for that I give them all the credit in the world.

Tommytheduck said:

I was told by 2 local AP holders (and you can correct me/them) that even with the lower attendance, the Star Wars rides are now operating at reduced hours and there is a limit of one ride per day on ROTR no matter how low the crowds are.

....

That is correct, and you still need to be at the park at park open to sign up for the virtual queue, and many days the slots are gone in less than a minute.

They do an afternoon release now at 3 or 3:30 and it's the same.

RotR has been a technical nightmare and is often broken (it is "temporarily closed" as I type this), so the adjustment there is more to do with that than the current situation. Two releases a day makes sense in case it experiences extreme down time, so you're not kicking as many people out of the queue. You just don't release the second half.

That being said, what I'm seeing is that RotR now has two chances to get in the virtual queue, so I don't necessarily have to be there at 6am. Smuggler's Run is currently sporting a 30 minute line.

With the notable exception of RotR, it is perfectly plausible to walk right in to any Disney park right now and take in every attraction that you want to in one day, without even bothering with Fast Passes.

I still fail to see (once again, covid aside) how this is bad or not worth going.

My understanding is the second release of RotR boarding groups is very limited most days and you probably want to be there for the first release (which is at 10am).

Maybe it's because I'm local, but having a mask on in this weather for long periods of time is not "worth it," and like I said, the entertainment and ambience is essentially gone.

Raven-phile, I can't quite tell from the photos. How good are people at maintaining 6' of distance in line?

Decent, most of the time, at least in the physical queues, because the ground is marked. Also in the access pass lines, because the ground is marked in them, too.

Obviously, sometimes people forget and get close, but they at least observe personal space, most if the time.

All streaks broken this year. First time in thirty years no rides...no slides...no arcades.

I appreciate the reports from those of you who have gone and your honest assessments...but i just can't take the risk.

No fishing boats either. Just pier fishing with social distancing this summer.

I went to sea side heights...but not to the boardwalk. Only the bay side.

I am hoping to maybe go to holiday in the park at six flags if they do it this year...but this summer was a bummer.

The one argument in my own defense is that every decision I have made added to me not getting Covid so far. So I am basing all future decisions to keep THAT streak going.

Hopefully, everything will still be there next year.

As we get closer to the holidays, I have to say that it's upsetting that we won't be going to the parks or the resort hotels this year. When you grow up in the Midwest and don't have snow, the decorations and festivities in the parks make for a fantastic upgrade.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see some new drive-through displays here in Orlando, Jeff. Something like what is being done for Halloween.

Pagoda Gift Shop said:

BrettV said:

As for Cedar Point, crowds or not, it's going to get worse as the weeks go by. Here's the current notice for this weekend in terms of attraction availability:

Ride Availability Sept. 12 & 13, 2020
The following attractions will not operate (subject to change): Antique Cars, SlingShot, Frontier Fling, Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island, Snake River Falls, Thunder Canyon, Power Tower, Corkscrew, Rougarou, WindSeeker, Wicked Twister, Sky Ride, Wave Swinger. Monster will not operate Sunday.

If you've got Power Tower, Corkscrew and Rougarou already down for the count on Saturday and Sunday, how much larger will this list be by the end of October? Combined with growing crowds and the continued reduced capacity and it'll likely be quite the s***show on a nice October Saturday.

I'm actually pleased with the list for this weekend. The list is pretty consistent with what it has been the past few weeks. Gemini isn't even on the list, and the 3 rides you listed have not been open consistently since the park opened in July.

There is still a decent chance the list will continue to grow as we move into October, but it was not a big drop off for week 1 after Labor Day.

As a follow up on this post, we visited Cedar Point over the weekend on Saturday and can report that despite being on the list Rougarou, Corkscrew, and Power Tower all operated. The park seems to have pulled out all the stops for staffing, and they needed it, as the park was moderately crowded up until the 8pm close.

It has been far from perfect on many days, but I give the entire Cedar Point team a great deal of credit for pulling this season off. All the more reason I love the place and am eager to get back.

In August I went to KI. I bought some fast lane passes so I wouldn't have to wait in line. We had a great time and felt safe. Masks were worn and KI was disinfecting the rides at regular intervals. Orion was ok, I like Diamondback better.

99er said:

What is worse than that is this will likely be the first year since about '96 or '97 that I won't have been on a roller coaster. I know I have some time left in the year but time moves fast so if I forget about it, I very well might screw this up.

Stopped over to Universal this weekend to see the haunted houses and while there I took a lap on Mummy. Proud of myself for not screwing it up.

I watched the Cedar Point webcam at 8:00 tonight instead of catching the last public train of the season on Raptor. But Raptor was closed for snow, so I think it was the right move.

I don't believe this is a streak, but Carowinds will end up having the shortest "season" in park history, since they're gonna open up for a few weeks starting this month.